Here is another great story about a virtual reality start up Nexperience, which New England Tech Game Development and Video Game Design students have been working with at interns. Todays startup is tomorrows Google so it is a fantastic opportunity for our students get involved at the ground level.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Nexperience, which just opened in the Warwick Mall, allows people to try and buy their new virtual reality software. Pictured from left to right is Sean Couepel, Aaron James, Tayla Manson, Jack Kayrouz and Alan Caprio.

Virtual reality is a computer-simulated experience that can visually transport an individual to another real or imagined world.

Nexperience, which opened in the Warwick Mall Aug. 1, allows individuals to try their virtual reality systems using the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality head set. By placing the Oculus Rift over the eyes with headphones, individuals are exposed to a separate reality from the one around them. The software costs only $7 and can be bought at the Nexperience Kiosk closer to the Target side in the mall.

The programs Nexperience has created are a roller coaster, a drive through space, a walk through Providence and Waterfire. Nexperience also, with the help of motion sensors, has allowed for gaming capabilities with their software; thus, the experience goes beyond a visual experience; a computerized reality that can be interacted with.

Tayla Manson tried out the roller coaster ride software. Her head moved from side to side and at one point her hands even flew up into the air.

She said, “This is absolutely amazing. Everything you see and hear, it’s exactly like really being on a real roller coaster; it even feels like it.”

Aaron James, Kevin Murphy and Eric Hall partnered together to begin Nexperience. They reached out to game development and simulation programming majors at New England Institute of Technology (NETECH).

Fifteen students participated in a four-week “hackathon” where they worked ceaselessly to design and produce virtual reality software.

This is the software you can try and buy at their kiosk.

James explained that many of the NETECH students have become part-time employees for Nexperience. The mall kiosk is to help the students have a job where they can put into practice all of their education while also helping fund the next step in their lives.

James said, “We wanted entrepreneurial students. They have basically employed themselves. They took it upon themselves to test and showcase their hard work. We have really talented students in this state.”

After the 38 Studios debacle, James said it will be a long time before any gaming or tech company wants to come to Rhode Island.

James said, “We want to restore hope and faith in Rhode Island and its tech community.”

Virtual reality is still a relatively new technology, but in the past few years it has begun to grow rapidly.

James said, “We all wanted to jump on the rising tide of virtual reality before it explodes.”

Nexperience is working with different companies sharing its technology. They have had discussions with NASA, whose virtual reality program has only two developers compared to Nexperience’s eight.

Virtual reality has many real uses beyond fun experiences and gaming. The software can help train first responders for natural disasters, terrorist attacks and other instances without any danger. They can visually see, hear and assess a scene without the cost of hiring people and renting places to do the training.

There is hope that virtual reality will also be able to better assist scientists handling robots in space.

There is also opportunity for virtual reality to soar in tourism. Travelers could explore their destinations and hotels before booking or leaving for their trip.

Virtual reality is just beginning to reach a consumer level and both James and his team believe virtual reality is about to take off.

James said, “We wanted to get into this business before it explodes hitting the consumer market. We could be the leading programmers.”

Nexperience is on the cusp of virtual reality technology and is sharing it with Rhode Island. They are looking to expand their business as well as their technology.

Nexperience is looking for help in expanding, the main reason they began selling their software, but they are also looking for donations.

For more information on Nexperience or to donate to their cause, visit their kiosk in the Warwick Mall or their Kickstarter fundraiser page on their website at www.Nexperience.technology. They also have a Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube channel.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Nexperience, which just opened in the Warwick Mall, allows people to try and buy their new virtual reality software. Pictured from left to right is Sean Couepel, Aaron James, Tayla Manson, Jack Kayrouz and Alan Caprio. Photo from The Warwick Beacon – Kelcy Dolan

New England Tech is Game Development and Video Game Design students have enjoyed their time interning for Nexperience and have found it to be a very rewarding experience. Today’s start up could be the next Apple and these students are getting an opportunity to contribute at the ground level.

Shoppers at Warwick Mall get to test virtual reality software produced by Nexperience

By BARBARA POLICHETTI JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

WARWICK — The Warwick Mall carousel, tried and true with its poised steeds, had its fair share of riders Sunday as a gray day drew people indoors.

But some bypassed the merry-go-round and found a very different kind of ride when they stopped at a new kiosk in the mall that showcases the virtual reality software of a new Rhode Island-based company that hopes to make a name for itself.

Nexperience opened its kiosk — or “tech pod” — a couple of days ago to give people a chance to try out the virtual reality experiences it is creating.

People were invited to have a seat, pop on a special mask and headphones and then hop on a stomach-lurching roller-coaster ride through prehistoric terrain or take a more relaxing option and glide past the planets.

“Whoa!,” was the most frequently uttered exclamation as people grabbed the edge of their seats as they gazed into the electronic goggles that had them believing that they were being hurled about on a wild roller-coaster ride.

“Oh my goodness, it was so life-like,” said Staci Kolb, of East Greenwich, after she had watched her 11-year-old son, Christopher, laugh his way through the ride.”

“I felt like I had to hold onto the chair,” said Kolb, who also tried out the virtual ride.

“It was really like being on a roller coaster,” said Christopher, who then asked his mom if they could buy one.

Soon, but not yet.

Aaron James, one of three Rhode Islanders who recently launched Nexperience, said that the company hopes to have its virtual reality products for sale soon and predicts that they will be “hot items” come Christmas.

The company creates the visuals and the software that is teamed up with a special headset created by another company, Oculus.

James said that although Nexperience is new, its goals are big and potential product line limitless.

Virtual reality games are a first option because fun is a great way to introduce people to the technology, said Kevin Murphy of East Greenwich, who along with James and Eric Hall is a founding member of the company.

He was at the mall Sunday watching his 7-year-old daughter, Mary Grace, giggle as she “rode” the volcanic roller coaster over and over.

“It’s just like watching her play with blocks or a ball for the first time,” he said. “There is that sense of awe.”

James and Murphy said that beyond games, they have other plans for the technology. The virtual reality experience has many uses in education, they said, and also in job training.

Sensors put on participants can track how they respond to different scenarios, James said, noting that he thinks that Nexperience is capable of developing effective training software for firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other “first responders.”

The company currently has work space at the Hatch Entrepreneurial Center in Providence and is staffed by five employees, who are augmented by more than a dozen interns from the New England Institute of Technology.

James said that the company is seeking corporate sponsors and plans to launch an Internet fundraising drive shortly.

“From education to entertainment, there really are an infinite number of possibilities,” Murphy said.

The Penny Arcade Expo known as PAX was the setting on April 11-13, 2014, for 90,000 gaming enthusiasts in search of the latest and greatest in gaming technology. PAX East, one of five international tradeshows, was held in Boston with NEIT faculty and students making their debut at this event as they showcased what was deemed as the hit of the show, the Virtusphere.

This show-stopping 10-foot hollow sphere gave all who stepped inside the ultimate virtual gaming experience. The Virtusphere rotates in any direction based on the user’s motion while he/she is wearing a head mounted display known as the Oculus Rift. Sensors collect and send data to a computer in real time and the user’s movement is replicated within the virtual environment. Not only is the Virtusphere a gamer’s delight, the sphere may be programmed for applications that include military, counter-terrorism, police, and firefighter training in a safe environment. Many industry experts agree that virtual reality is the future of gaming.

The game utilized in the Virtusphere was created by New England Tech gaming students Naveed Sameja and Harold Ramsay III with guidance from Assistant Professor David “DJ” Johnson. The concept of the game called “A Ghostly Night” was to catch the light-orbs with outstretched hands. Because of its popularity, a lottery was developed with more than 300 show attendees winning the chance to experience the Virtusphere first-hand.

New England Tech was the only Rhode Island college represented at PAX East, and with the overwhelming response of this year’s exhibit, gaming faculty and students are already talking about next year’s show.

The video game design industry, once the pastime of teenage American boys, has experienced a huge shift in recent years. In fact according to ESPN, more Americans play video games than America’s traditional pastime – Baseball.

Check out the video below to learn more about how video games are shaping today’s culture, and then check out the New England Tech Game Design program to see how getting your video game design degree can be start creating games!